Live on Bloomberg TV

00:00Let me ask you first off how optimistic you are about the rollout of this vaccine. Typically the European Union does things in a rather slow manner. And Germany specifically is an incredibly bureaucratic country. Can we get it done quickly enough. Yes. I resist from trying to compare the different bureaucracies in different countries. I have tried to make an American tax tax declaration once in my life and so I was a bit abused. Whether or not our problem is we do not have enough vaccine available at present time. We have built up an infrastructure and I am talking Germany just now. We have built up an infrastructure here and we are sure to be able to get five shots at the five million shots administered until end of March. Now five millions means two and a half million people vaccinated out of 83 million population. We think it will take up to the end of this year to get what we end of next year. Sorry Western in 2020. End of 2021. To achieve herd immunity which is the goal. The aim the target which you have on vaccination programs. So it's not bureaucracy at present time. That's our problem. It is more the availability of vaccine. And we are very content with the way the European Medicines Agency handled that because different. The difference to the UK and also to the US. We did not get emergencies emergency approvals but we've got a register of formal correct tested programme of approval of these drugs. So I think the vaccine situation is better in the European Union than in the UK or in some areas of the US. I wonder you know I think one of the most interesting things to come out of this process Frank is. Spain has recently said it's going to record the names of people who refuse the vaccine and others have suggested that those who do get the vaccine should be allowed special privileges for example getting on a plane or going into a restaurant. Do you think we're going to see more processes like that. Definitely. The question is are there some privileges coming with the vaccination for those people who are vaccinated. First of all programs like that exist. If you if you wanted to enter some countries in Africa you have to have a yellow fever vaccination. Otherwise they will let you in. In this country we have compulsory measles vaccinations. Other European countries have a very extensive compulsory vaccination program. So that's nothing new. So we have a lot to discuss but we have nothing to decide just now because you cannot you can only have restricting lists or passports or whatever. If you have offered the vaccination to the whole population if you have discussed it if you know about long term effects of the vaccines you can't do it straight away and off the cuff. Will will we be recording those who get the vaccine is there going to be a register for those who get the vaccine at least here in Germany or in other European countries Frank. No I don't think we're going to have a register because we have a federal state here 16 states decide each and individually and on themselves. And I'm very very pessimistic that they will ever come to a common accord. But we have very good W H O yellow passport which is the vaccination passport which most Europeans carry not in the pockets all the time at least in their passport. So I would think there will be some sort of immunity passport in the end because the importance is not only vaccination but we do not know yet what the efficiency rate of the vaccination is overall. I mean biotechs says they have a 95 percent positive immunity rate. But AstraZeneca came up with a first study saying that 72 immunity that counts not vaccination. And we do not have a thorough proof of immunity yet. And before we don't have that we are not able to discuss any privileges for those who are immunized. So we have a lot to discuss but nothing to decide.

No schedule data available.

Too Early to Discuss Vaccine Privileges, World Medical Association Says

It's too early to discuss granting special rights to people that have been vaccinated against Covid-19, according to Frank Ulrich Montgomery, chairman of the World Medical Association. "We don’t have thorough proof of immunity yet. And before we have that we won’t be able to discuss any privileges for those who are immunized,” Montgomery said on "Bloomberg Surveillance." (Source: Bloomberg)

More From Bloomberg Surveillance
All episodes and clips